As the congressional campaign season hits its homestretch, it is readily apparent that there will be more at stake in these mid-term elections than at any time since 1994. They present us not simply with the choice of Republican candidates versus Democrats, but of candidates fighting for small government versus those that support the swollen beast liberalism has created.

In truth, the views of Sarah Palin are pitted against those of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and the convictions of Barry Goldwater against the socialistic predilections of President Obama.

And if the polls are any indicator, these elections portend a revolution: one that could resemble the Reagan Revolution in raw political force, thanks to the tea party movement. Thus it only seems apropos to invite every voter who is outraged over the economy, the weakened approach to our military, and the ongoing attacks against our personal (and collective) liberties to “win one for the Gipper!” on November 2.

The idea of winning one for the Gipper was born out of Reagan’s 1940 film, Knute Rockne: All American, a movie in which Reagan played the role of Notre Dame’s George Gipp, a star player for that football team whose dying words to his coach were: “When the team is up against it and the breaks are beating the boys, tell them to go out there with all they’ve got and win just one for the Gipper.”

Although Reagan left this world in 2004, the ideals to which he held and his convictions about good and evil are every bit as valid now as they were during his lifetime. And it’s arguable that the tea party is itself as much a revival of Reaganism as it is a revival of the vision of our Founding Fathers.

Just think of it like this: Obama has no problem nationalizing large portions of the private sector, especially when it comes to areas like the health care industry. Reagan stood against government’s encroachment into the private sector, especially a government takeover of health care. Obama reads documents like the Declaration of Independence and purposely omits references to God as “Creator” when he comes across them; Reagan spoke of his belief in God in such a way so as to make it evident that without God there is no freedom.

And what we must remember as November 2 approaches is that Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and every other senator and House member who have cast their legislative votes in support of Obama’s agenda have also aligned themselves against liberty and America’s continuance as a free nation.

Over 230 years ago, Thomas Paine looked at the coming revolution between the colonies and Great Britain and wrote: “Tis not the concern of a day, a year, or an age; posterity are virtually involved in the contest, and will be more or less affected even to the end of time, by the proceedings now.” Our attempt to break the chains Obama and the Democrats have placed around us is no less pressing.

And as Reagan remains with us in spirit, along with the heritage of conservatism and the national pride that rages within our hearts, let’s the mark the day, November 2, as the day on which we “win one for the Gipper!” again.

AWR Hawkins is a conservative writer who holds a Ph.D. in military history from Texas Tech University.

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16 Comments, 11 Threads

“And it’s arguable that the tea party is itself as much a revival of Reaganism as it is a revival of the vision of our Founding Fathers.”

Damn straight it is! We are standing here at a crossroads, America. If we go down the road chosen by Obama, Reid, and Pelosi, it leads to an oppressive form of socialism that will spell the end of our republic. If we go down the second road, the road that was built over time by people like Reagan, Lincoln, Adams, and Washington, we will preserve the union and, in our own way, improve that path towards liberty.

We reject an oppressive government that thrives and subsists on more spending, higher taxes, and a bloated Federal bureaucracy. We want a government that gives more power back to the states and forces both the states and the big-spenders in Washington to be able to manage their own budgets. And stop all the bailouts, NOW! Whether it’s to car companies, insurance companies, unions, or to banks, stop all bailouts and let these organizations fall or stand on their own merits.

Finally, the Federal Government MUST get out of the health care business. If ObamaCare is not struck down by the supreme court, then Federalism really is dead. We simply cannot let that happen. If ObamaCare is left to stand, then the Federal Government can force you to do anything, from buying a car from their own car company, Government Motors (GM), to telling you what to eat, how much you should weigh, and when you’re not worth saving anymore (I’m sure the people over 65 would love to hear more about that).

So stop the madness, America. You will be standing at that crossroads on November 2nd. Choose the right path, because our nation depends on it. We will not only be doing this for Reagan, but for all of the other men and women who came before him that placed individual freedom over statism. We are NOT socialists, we are NOT statists, we are NOT France. We are Americans. And on November 2nd, we will usher in a new birth of Freedom, one that Ronald Reagan would be proud of.

You wrote: “the federal government must get out of the health care business.” Can we assume then that you are opposed to Medicare, Medicaid, aid to veterans through the VA? Those all are health care programs ran by the federal government.

Well I am a service connected disability veteran that would only go to the VA under dire circumstances, and even with a service connected disability I must pay the VA either directly for visits or medicine or indirectly through a refund if any of federal income taxes!

It is at best a mediocre system and if I go there become highly depressed at patients conditions as well as conditions of the place itself!

Steve, I’m really getting tired of that old liberal argument about Medicare, Medicaid, and the VA. According to your definition then, we should grive crummy care for everybody because it’s just so darned fair, right? Bunk. If we had massive competition across state lines for EVERYBODY who needs insurance, why not just have the government subsidize people so that they can buy their own insurance? Wouldn’t it be easier and more efficient for the government to simply write a check to an individual so that he or she can buy their own insurance, rather than try to run the entire insurance industry? Not only would you then be able to put people into better insurance programs, but they would get the same care that other paying customers get in the same programs. If the government wanted to negotiate with the individual insurance companies to help keep the premiums down, great. But the big difference would be that these people would be in a private insurance program, rather than one that is horribly run by the Federal Government.

So save your sarcasm for the Huffington Post. There are lots of ideas out there to save money AND inprove the quality of care for people. If Obama wasn’t so determined to have socialized medicine and if he would have listened to some Republicans like Paul Ryan, he probably could have found a decent program to pay for all of this. Now he has a disaster on his hands and he’s stuck with it. And we are the ones who are going to be stuck with the bill.

While I’ve always embraced much of Reagan’s philosophy, I don’t remember anything (other than his individual personality) that “moved” our nation during the lead-up to his election as governor of California or POTUS. What is happenening today with the Tea Party is not a “personality cult.”

Neither Sarah Palin, nor Jim Demint, nor any other specific “Reagan-like” personality are creating any effect on our culture like the Tea Party is having. The Tea Party Movement is fueled within the hearts of its participants and not in the rhetoric of any presumed “leader.” It is this “disorganized dynamic” that is totally misunderstood by the existing political elite (wherever they position themseleve in our nation’s political parties.)

Reagan’s personality spawned a sub-culture within conservative-leaning political circles.

The Tea Party is a self-fueled catalyst, that if maintained (continually re-charged,) will create “true change” in our society’s overall culture. Institutional, not just political change will occur. This change (a “re-embrace” of historical, Judeo-Christian, Constitutional values and principles) will manifest itself in a restoration of cultural institutions, not as a “reformation.” “Restoration” and/or “revolution” will be watchwords of the movement not “progress” or “reform.”

One must always remember history or they are doomed to repeat it. Many incarnations, so no quote.

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” JFK

The libertarian movement has been picking up steam for decades. You could actually thank Reagan for it, him being an espouser of the libertarian ideal, just not a implementer of it. Federal and state government has swollen beyond their intended parameters.

This country was created on an ideal, that all men are created equal and that they were meant to be sovereign themselves. Do no harm to others, and do not encroach or infringe on the rights of Life, Liberty, or Property of others.

The government was created amongst men not to rule them, but to provide protection from outside forces. Be they from foreign or domestic abuses.

Our first failure as a nation, was when we allowed our government to not protect us from the money changers. That to me, was the most egregious criminal perpetrated upon us. A sound currency having been ripped from us, has led us down this path. Since those that had control of the currency then perpetrated the rest of their draconian visage. If one cannot barter fairly and equitably, what economic freedom do we then have?

The next failure as a nation was when we allowed the government the right to steal our property and our labor, for it’s own agenda. We have allowed our government to seize our property through numerous taxation schemes, be they property tax, labor tax, or things like licensing schemes. Where we have to pay for the very right to earn a living. Or that though we own our property, we have to continually pay the government, to keep our keep our property all in the guise of what is best for the collective.

The government uses these auspices of slavery, just as the king of old had used them. For the benefit of the ruler, not the ruled. We live in an imagination of freedom. We live in an imagination of liberty.

We are now on the cusp of a great realization. There is no way that we can pay for these controls and debts we have created. And who actually benefits from all of these controls? The majority, or just a slim minority with a majority of the people enslaved to the welfare controls forced upon them. All just an illusion of help, where actually it is a yoke of tyranny.

Time for a grand awakening. For if not, there shall be a grand enslavement in our near future.

It is not yet done, we must work relentlessly today, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday to make sure that all the Patriots DO vote.
Do not rest now, rest next Wednesday (NOT next Thursday, we’ll have to start working for 2012 !)

I have done my part in that I voted early last Monday at 1:43 p.m. along with my 86 year old mother, I am certain that my mother as a lifelong Republican voted conservatively as I did myself! Now I am free to sit up late on the 2nd and watch the landslide turnover!

On the 3rd I will be partying with myself and some close friends as we are once again more optimistic and encouraged that the country is turning around and correcting and working for more corrections in 2012!

“Those who would trade our freedom for the soup kitchen of the welfare state have told us they have a utopian solution of peace without victory. They call their policy ‘accommodation.’ And they say if we’ll only avoid any direct confrontation with the enemy, he’ll forget his evil ways and learn to love us. All who oppose them are indicted as warmongers. They say we offer simple answers to complex problems. Well, perhaps there is a simple answer — not an easy answer — but simple: If you and I have the courage to tell our elected officials that we want our national policy based on what we know in our hearts is morally right.”

Let’s just hope that the Republicans is taking this new Reagan Revolution to heart! If the GOP implements true conservatism in the new Congress, then this Tea Party Revolution will truly be a renaissance of Reaganism.

I share your hope Ed (or maybe it’s a concern). I hope the Republicans use what they’ll be given on November 2nd. If they squander it things could get ugly with third parties in 2012, which will just open the door to Democrats all over again.

The Gipper would be shocked and saddened by the lows to which his party has sunk in recent years. And today’s Tea Partiers would rip Ronnie to shreds if he were running in this year’s election; he’s simply not right-wing enough for them.